Class of 1971 Legacy Initiative

By Jeff Marshall '71

September 2013

Much has happened over the summer to
reshape the future of the Class of 1971 Legacy Initiative, launched several
years ago and aimed at helping interested classmates transition into second
careers or other meaningful involvement with nonprofits. The small group of
classmates working on the initiative, led by David Williams, has been looking
for a way to donate the almost $20,000 in the LI coffers – most of it collected
a couple of years ago – to a group or groups we felt would best advance our
goals.

Thanks largely to David’s efforts,
we now have a good home for those dollars. We have brought Encore.org, a
national second-career resource, together with Princeton Alumni Corps (PAC) to
arrange to put on two informational programs aimed at our target audience, including
both Princeton alumni and others who might be receptive to such service.
Currently, two seminar programs are scheduled, one in New York on Nov. 14 and
another in Washington, D.C., probably in mid-January. Both are to feature Marci
Alboher, an acclaimed speaker on second careers and author of The Encore Career Handbook, and both
should also include workshops so that volunteers can find information on
placements that day. We’re also hoping that several classmates will offer their
own experience and expertise on the nonprofit world.

Our
close liaison with PAC (formerly Princeton Project ’55) is proving especially
fruitful. This group, which for many years has placed graduating seniors in
nonprofit positions, is honoring the legacy of its guiding spirit, Chet Safian
’55, who recently passed away. An anonymous donor is offering to match all contributions
in Chet’s name up to $100,000 and our money will be part of that effort. PAC has
agreed that our gift, devoted to the encore career collaboration with
Encore.org, will qualify for the match. Thus our contribution of hopefully
$20,000 will become $40,000 of wonderful seed money for future programs and other
related efforts by PAC and Encore.org working together in their new-found partnership
to implement the 71 Legacy Initiative’s encore career mission. This indeed is progress!

Former
Class President Bill Lewis was the founder of the Legacy Initiative and did
much of the early groundwork, providing the vision and the organizational
design to launch it as a 501(c)(3) entity. David Williams has labored long and
hard to move the project ahead, bringing together officers of PAC and
Encore.org in a series of conference calls over the summer to work out the
detail of their collaboration. The remaining core of the ’71
Legacy Initiative – in addition to David, this includes Ed Andrews, Jim
Ungerleider, Jeff Marshall, Bob Douthitt and Lex Kelso – have been involved in
some of these calls and follow-up emails as the plans evolved.

We concluded that the PAC /
Encore.org collaboration offers the closest possible approximation of our
original mission and the best use of our funds. By putting money in the hands
of two established groups with a specific target and time frame, we are
confident we will in fact succeed in introducing fellow alumni to the virtues
of second-career public service and provide initial resources and a framework to
give effect to "Princeton in the Nation’s Service.” Hopefully, the events now
planned will provide a solid foundation on which to grow the effort and expand it
to include to other Princeton alumni throughout the country.